Monthly Archives: August 2015

Social media management has become one of the core focuses for marketers.

Regardless of their organization’s size, social media management has become one of the core focuses for marketers.

Having an active presence on most popular social platforms is as important as learning how to manage them effectively and make the most of their features and benefits.

Managing various different networks at the same time can be challenging and that’s where social media management tools come in handy. Such platforms let you keep an eye on and promptly reply to messages on social, monitor all your social accounts in one place, schedule posts in advance, and analyze your online activity.

There are plenty of tools out there, so choosing the right one for your business can prove difficult. For this article, I decided to have a look at the top 10 most useful and popular social management tools and ease your decision of choosing the one that suits your needs.

Buffer is great for staggering content throughout the day across multiple social platforms

User-friendly and clean, Buffer is great for staggering content throughout the day across multiple social platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

If you’re looking for a simple and efficient management app for scheduling updates, helping you save time on administrating your networks, Buffer can definitely help.

Also, all available accounts (Individual, Awesome and Business) allow users to track engagement metrics such as shares, favorites, comments, and clicks, which can help you discover with little effort which are your best performing posts on social.

Buffer’s free Image Creation tool, Pablo, can help you create engaging images for your social media posts quickly, without any hassle. The app has stock images you can use, but there’s also an option to upload JPEG and PNG images. Very handy and worth trying out!

Cons:

If you manage numerous social accounts with lots of followers, and have an interest in responding to comments/tweets and interacting, Buffer has its limitations, and in this case, it’s probably not the best option.

Pricing:

The Individual Plan is free, but you can also opt for one of their paid plans which range from $102 to $2,550 / year.

With over 25 social networks, Hootsuite is the right management tool for you if you’re looking for engagement, great publishing and workflow features, analytics, and managing campaigns, all in one place

Integrated with over 25 social networks, Hootsuite is the right management tool for you if you are looking for engagement, great publishing and workflow features, analytics, and managing campaigns, all in one place.

One of its core strengths is definitely facilitating audience engagement. On a single dashboard, anyone on your team, in any region or department, can quickly respond to messages, mentions, and comments. There is also an option to save responses for future use, which can be handy.

Another useful feature is the ability to target your posts and share content with your customers based on location, language and demographic details, helping you reach and communicate with your online communities in a smart and effective way.

Due to its integration with Brandwatch (and uberVU?), Hootsuite is the ideal solution if you’re seeking to combine publishing and engagement with a social analytics solution.

Cons:

Being such a complex and multifunctional platform, Hootsuite can be a bit daunting for social media rookies and it takes a bit of time to get used to. However, once you pass that stage and start exploring all its benefits, it’s all worth it.

Pricing:

There’s a free plan available, great for personal use, and also 2 additional options: Pro (from £6.99/month) and Enterprise, recommended for big corporations and organizations.

Spredfast allows users to monitor online conversations through keyword searches and it’s also recommended for managing multiple social media sites

Spredfast allows users to monitor online conversations through keyword searches and it’s also recommended for managing multiple social media sites and its reliable publishing capabilities, as it also suggests optimal scheduling time.

If reporting is what you are looking for, Spredfast is unmatched. It provides advanced analytics reports and all data is clearly presented in formatted graphics which you can easily export.

Their dashboards are a good source for a quick reference of what is happening across your pages and it’s also very easy to track what type of content is performing best on specific channels.

Cons:

For those who aren’t that familiar with social media, Spredfast requires a bit of a learning curve, and while there is an extensive amount of training documentation available, it can take some digging to find an answer to some user questions.

Using Percolate’s customizable marketing calendar, you can schedule content for multiple channels, organize and collaborate with team members on campaigns.

Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for you to find what you’re looking for. For instance, you can easily find all images that you have tweeted out or look at the calendar to find out how many times you have posted in a day across various social channels.

If one of your core focuses is content creation, Percolate is a great choice. It provides everything you need to build visually appealing content, such as access to Getty Images and your own built in media database.

The Brew, Percolate’s content suggestion feature is extremely useful for finding shareable content, which is a real time saver.

Cons:

At the moment, there is no possibility to change time zones for different users, an issue which can be tricky to tackle if being part of a global team.

Tweetdeck makes it easy to engage with streams and posts quickly and it is also extremely flexible, as it allows you to add all Twitter streams you’re interested in

If you’re simply looking for a Twitter-focused managing tool, with a clean and responsive interface, Tweetdeck fits the bill perfectly.

Tweetdeck makes it easy to engage with streams and posts quickly and it is also extremely flexible, as it allows you to add all Twitter streams you’re interested to keep an eye on. Also, desktop notifications can be set up to make sure you respond to comments or questions in real time.

One of the best things about Tweetdeck is its search features. You can easily stay abreast of latest Twitter trends and join discussions about hot topics.

Cons:

It is quite difficult to manage more than one Twitter account, and also, scheduled tweets including images can’t be edited. Lack of analytics can also be an issue, but I’d highly recommend this as a first Twitter management to use for beginners.

#1: Embrace the Hashtag

For anyone who doesn’t already know, hashtags are short, descriptive keywords, preceded by the hash sign (#), which enable users to find content they’re looking for with a simple click. Relevant hashtags in posts help create a dialogue between your business and other users.

There are a number of things you can do with hashtags to get the ball rolling on Instagram.

First of all, add hashtags relevant to your industry or niche to every post your business makes on Instagram. Remember, you can use as many hashtags as you want, which will help you attract a wider audience. Note: Research has found even small accounts that use 11 or more hashtags receive an average of 77.6 interactions.

So if you’re an online retailer specializing in women’s clothes, include the hashtag #womensfashion, among others, in your photo description. This will help users find inspiration, as well as help you land more followers, improve brand awareness and increase sales.

#2: Engage With Your Community

To make the most of your efforts on Instagram, it’s vital to spend time engaging with your community and other users on the platform. See what photos and hashtags attract the most comments and likes, and jump on the bandwagon. You can also re-post exceptional images from your followers.

Also, determine where people from your target demographic hang out. Find out which accounts they follow and then engage with them. Comment on their photos and like their posts. Remember to add value with your comments and don’t be spammy.

If you’ve done your research and interact with the right people, these users are likely to engage with your brand and follow your account. Your brand will also start to show up on their followers’ radar.

#3: Launch a Contest

The prospect of getting something for nothing has always been alluring in the world of marketing. Use the reach and popularity of your Instagram account to host competitions and attract more followers. An Instagram contest is a great way to drum up excitement and get people talking about your brand.

Whether you go with a tag, hashtag, like to win, share or other type of promotion, your Instagram contest will certainly be a hit.

#4: Build Awareness of Your Instagram Handle

Even though this is fairly obvious and straightforward, it’s still worth mentioning. The first step in Instagram marketing is to promote your handle to your customers. Then they’ll know you have a presence on Instagram and where to find you.

There are various ways to spread the word that your business is on Instagram. If you have a storefront, print out an Instagram badge along with your username. Laminate it or put it in a frame and display it in your store. This is something you can share virtually on your social platforms as well.

You can write a blog post on your Instagram presence, and share it on your different social platforms. Be sure to link to your Instagram account from you website as well.

#5: Cross-Promote Visual Posts on Other Social Media Channels

Part of the reason Instagram is so popular is that people love visual content.

Don’t limit your visual posts to Instagram. Share them on all of your social channels, such as Facebook and Twitter. That way you can leverage the fan bases of all of your social accounts.

Cross-promoting is yet another way to raise awareness of your Instagram account.

A visual platform like Instagram is the perfect social media channel to convey your brand’s personality to your audience. Use these tips to effectively market your brand. You’ll increase your audience, as well as your visibility, and in turn grow your business.

Ask an entrepreneur or a marketer what they’d like most in the world, and they’ll likely say “more customers.” What usually comes after customers on a business wish list? “More traffic” to their site. Getting traffic is among the most crucial of any task. Getting traffic is an ongoing process and must be continuously done to keep the flow of traffic coming to your site.If you are a digital marketer or internet entrepreneur, more visitors to your site is something to be always thankful for. Higher traffic rates translates into more chances to make sales. If you are searching for ways to drive more traffic to your site, we’ve got some smart thoughts to help you begin. Here are 7 marketing tips to help you get more site hits.

1. Optimize Your Site for Search Engines:

Search engines have consistently been a remarkable way to get traffic for free. That is the reason you have to get your work done and optimize your site so it positions well for the keywords you target. SEO is still the most powerful approach to get free traffic. All you need is to follow latest search engine guidelines and modern SEO principles. It is essential that you invest some time and effort in the optimization of your site. Your site’s design, content architecture, and tags are the three most important things to begin with.

2. Write Rich Content:

Quality articles will show a better ranking in search results. Confirm that your articles address what your readers need and that they can see all of the information they want in one spot. This is the best way for attracting traffic to a site; offering people something that they can’t get anywhere else, or possibly, not the level of quality that you are offering. In a previous post, we’ve explained 10 rules for successful content marketing in 2015, you should follow them for greater return on investment.

3. Utilize Your Social Profiles:

Social media sites are also among the best approaches to get traffic free of charge. If you look at the latest digital marketing statistics, you’ll come to know that Facebook is 2nd most populous place on the planet, after China. This makes it vital for businesses to ensure stronger presence there. So, if you are famous on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks; the traffic you get from that can easily surpass the traffic search engines. Undoubtedly, building a vast system of targeted followers on Twitter and fans on Facebook takes a lot of time and effort but normally the result is well worth it. In addition, you must explore social bookmarking sites, networking groups, and blogs to share the great pieces of content your team has produced.

4. Get Links with Other Sites In Your Niche:

One more approach to getting free traffic is from different sites in your niche market. Getting links with different sites in your niche is also useful for SEO, particularly if you figure out how to get links without the famous nofollow attribute. However, despite the possibility that the links are nofollow (i.e., they are pointless for SEO), they still help to get traffic to your site. If you figure out how to put your links in a visible place on a site with high volumes of traffic, you can get a large number of hits from this link alone.

5. Pay Attention to Mobile Factor:

With more than 92% of Americans now using smartphones and almost 60% of all online activity now originating from smartphones, we have staggered into another age in technology with new marketing trends and challenges. So looking at the implication of mobile factor on marketing, design a strategy that helps you make the best out of the available opportunities.

6. Target Long-Tail Keywords

Got your high commercial intent keyword bases secured? If yes, now is the ideal time to target long-tail keywords as well. Since long-tail keywords represent a dominant part of web searches, if you’re not focusing on them as a major aspect of your paid search or SEO efforts, you’re missing a great opportunity.

7. Invite Others to Guest Blog on Your Site:

Guest blogging is a two-way street. Along with posting content on different sites, invite other people as well in your niche to blog on your own website. They’re likely to share and link to their guest article, which could bring new readers to your site. Simply ensure that you just post amazing, unique content without spam links, as Google is cracking down on low-quality visitor blogging.

Using the perfect font is essential for good digital brand marketing. It is important to capture people’s attention and font is a foundational element of this process. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the late 1440’s and typography came to exist. Molds were created into metal type casts that made particular fonts that were used in printing. Modern technology today has allowed several versions of the same font to be created, generating typeface families. Read on for important tips on how to navigate through various typefaces to find the perfect brand and master typography in marketing.Readability

Sans-Serif vs. Serif are two branches of font families and are imperative to good brand marketing. Readability attracts a customer’s eye and keeps them reading about the products and services being offered. Choosing certain fonts and typefaces ensures consistent readability and furthers the success of your product.

Sans-serif fonts do not have lines on the edge of text and are considered easier to look at. This increases readability and sans-serif fonts are often used in titles and subtitles for this purpose. In recent years, sans-serif fonts have become used more often in body copy on websites but are traditionally used for headlines.

Serif fonts have extra lines and detailing on the lettering and are often used in body copy because it arguably increases readability. Sans-serif fonts can often lose the reader’s eye and serif fonts ease the reading process and help people keep their place in bodies of text.

Differentiating between Titles and Body Copy is another part of choosing the best typefaces for ideal brand marketing. The title and logo in brand marketing must be distinctly different from the body text used on the website. Subtitles used must also not clash with the title or logo or it will result in a chaotic and unappealing webpage.

Kerning is the spacing between the letters of a title and is a central element to the title. The font used in the logo or title cannot be too close together or it will not be easily legible. The leading in the body copy follows similar rules. Leading is the space between lines of text and special attention needs to be taken to ensure that the space between lines is appropriate so that the text is decipherable.

Accessibility

The typography used must be accessible on different mobile interfaces. One source of type may look readable on a large mac computer yet when accessing the webpage on a smartphone, the body copy becomes illegible. It is important to double-check the accessibility of various fonts on different devices.

Many free sources of typography are not reliable on the interweb. Certain fonts are available for a limited time and then disappear due to copyright infringement or other issues and the webpage becomes unreadable. It is more viable to utilize reliable sources of typography such as Typekit, a licensed source for fonts that can be rented or purchased at a reasonable cost.

Personality

Different typefaces reflect a different company ethos. Classic and traditional fonts tend to lean towards an audience that is looking for a reliable and traditional company. Modern and Fresh type fonts lend themselves to young urban professionals looking to move forward into more futuristic company sources. Funky fonts are more stylistically creative and are appropriate for audiences that are younger and more attracted to fun interfaces. Lastly, elegant typefaces appeal to clothing companies and exudes femininity.

Consistency

Using consistent typography is vital to good brand marketing. Titles and logos should be repeated to present a uniform design model as well as similar body copy on different webpages. Using various fonts creates chaos and detracts the eye.

It is also important to use consistent color schemes with type. Contrasting colors are a good choice but they must be constant or it will not create a cohesive brand.
http://www.business2community.com/marketing/four-things-to-remember-when-using-typography-in-marketing-01290021#Em3WYhzQI5ylkv2E.99

Original Image taken from this post on HubSpot – The additional text included was by Virtuadmin

Using Twitter? Make sure you know about these super handy Twitter analytics features.

Sometimes, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the questions that arise when you’re creating or analyzing your Twitter strategy.

Who follows you? What kind of Tweets do they like (or hate)? How often do they want to hear from you? How quickly do they expect a response?

As an SMB Marketing Manager at Twitter, I hear these questions from a lot of businesses. The good news is you’ve got a great tool at your disposal: Twitter’s free analytics. With a few clicks of a button, you could be on your way to finding out what’s working (and what isn’t).

Not sure which Twitter analytics features you should be using? Below are a few you may not know about (but should).

1) Get monthly reports.

Your Account home provides a handy overview of your Twitter statistics, with monthly averages for engagement rates, replies, and more. So the next time your boss is asking for a wrap-up, you’re just a click away.

Want an even deeper dive? Visit the Tweet activity dashboard to see in-depth metrics for your individual Tweets. You’ll see stats like impressions and total engagements — and Twitter will even calculate your engagement rate, too.

If you click on a Tweet, you’ll see engagement broken down even further into Retweets, Favorites, clicks on media, replies, link clicks, follows, and more. If that’s still not enough data for you, you can download the data on your last 3,200 Tweets, going back as far as October 2013.

2) Uncover your influencers.

It’s not just about statistics — your Account home has even more in store! It’ll let you know who your top follower is every month, in terms of reach. You can also see whose Tweet mentioning your handle drove the most engagements. This is a great place to start when you’re looking to kick-off a co-marketing venture or find a business partner.

3) Get to know your followers.

Aside from the fact that they all made the (great) decision to follow you, do your followers have anything else in common? The followers dashboard is loaded with audience insights that can help you answer that question, and many more. You can track your follower growth over time, see their tops interests, and uncover their demographics. You can also benchmark your numbers against the total Twitter user base, and find out what makes your community stand out.

We’ve also recently introduced personas. This means that, in addition to your followers, you can now get to know specific audiences on Twitter such as parents, millennials, or small business decision-makers.

Once you find the persona that matches your desired audience, you can easily target them in an ad campaign — it’s just one click on your audience insights dashboard. Personas are currently only available to advertisers in the U.S., but we’re working to roll out this new tool more broadly.

4) Check analytics on your mobile phone.

Out and about, but with Tweets on your mind? You can hit the graph icon to check in on a Tweet’s engagements.

If you’re checking in on the Promoted Tweets in your Twitter Ads campaigns, you can go even further: the new Twitter Ads companion allows you to monitor and edit your campaigns from your mobile phone. You can change your campaign start and end dates, pause or resume a campaign, and edit your budget and bid.

5) Promote individual Tweets in 1-2-3.

Now that we’ve gotten you into the good habit of checking in with analytics.twitter.com every day, you’ll be ready when one of your Tweets starts to get noticed. If you see that something is resonating with your audience and racking up the faves and Retweets, it could be ready for a wider audience. With quick promote, you can click on the Tweet in your timeline or your Tweet activity dashboard, and promote it with just two clicks.

You’ll be able to target people who are similar to your followers, and those that are likely to be interested in the topics mentioned in the Tweet. You can also refine by geography, to make sure you’re quickly promoting content to the most relevant country, region, or metro area. Our easy budget slider makes it simple to choose the amount that makes the most sense for your business and goal.

We’re stopping at five, but once you start exploring analytics.twitter.com you’ll be amazed at how much you can learn about your content and your audience. Of course, data is only as valuable as the insights it brings to businesses, so take time to get familiar with all the reports and identify the best for your business. We’ll be sure to keep the dashboards actionable, easy-to-use, and up-to-date with new, helpful features. Deal?

Coming up with content ideas

Readers are tired of the same old topics and tips. They are always expecting something out of the ordinary, life changing and breath taking. Without these catchy topics, people won’t come back for more.

Creativity Portal is famous for helping writers and other artists guide their creativity. It provides inspirational materials – e-journals, articles, posts, and so on.

How can you take advantage of this platform?

Read about the topics you are interested in and use them for inspiration, information, writing style, etc.

Just remember not to plagiarize!

Creating better content

Sure, marketing is kind of on auto pilot these days. But writing still requires a human mind. And yes, I know how exhausting this can be!

Fortunately, smart IT guys have invented several content creation apps to help us research, write, edit, and design content.

Below, I have chosen some of the top picks.
To read the remainng 15 Essential Content Creation Apps click the link to the original post on Jeff Bullas blog here:- http://www.jeffbullas.com/2015/07/28/15-essential-content-creation-apps/#H4D9yCmxIkJ94riJ.99